Biography

The most prolific of Rozz Williams' post-Christian Death side projects, Shadow Project also most closely resembled the work that made Williams a goth icon, though it incorporated bits of his punk, glam, and experimental influences to a slightly greater degree. Centered around Williams and his wife Eva O., Shadow Project grew to share some of the supporting personnel from the alternate version of Christian Death, which Williams revived concurrently beginning in the late '80s. After leaving the original Christian Death in 1985, Williams remained effectively silent for a couple of years, though he did perform occasionally in Premature Ejaculation. In 1987, he married Eva O. of the Superheroines, five years after she'd sung backup on the first Christian Death album. Together they founded Shadow Project, which was named after a peculiar effect of the nuclear detonation at Hiroshima (some people left shadows burned into the pavement, but no bodies). Shadow Project gave its first performance in San Francisco in 1987, but didn't really maintain much of a profile until Williams and O. returned to their native Los Angeles for good in 1990. Once there, they recruited keyboardist Paris, bassist Jill Emery (who'd played with O. in the Superheroines, and also worked with Hole and Mazzy Star), and drummer Tom Morgan (ex-Flesh Eaters). This lineup completed Shadow Project's self-titled debut album, which was released on Triple X in 1991. With Peter Tomlinson replacing Morgan, the group completed a follow-up, Dreams for the Dying, that became their best-known work when it appeared in 1992. The band's lineup subsequently became more fluid, as musicians working with Williams on other projects -- including guitarist William Faith, drummer Stevyn Grey, horn man Ace Farren Ford, and drummer Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo -- floated in and out. By 1993, Eva O. had decided to focus on solo material, and Williams was moving on to other concerns, so Shadow Project played a farewell show at a Denny's restaurant in Orange County. It was later released as the live album In Tuned Out. Williams and O. divorced in the mid-'90s, but starting 1997, they reunited for a mostly acoustic Shadow Project album that also featured guitarist/producer Michael Ciravolo and keyboardist Nathan Van Hala. Sadly, Williams never lived to see it released; he died by suicide on April 1, 1998, after which the album appeared on Hollow's Hill under the title From the Heart. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi